The present invention relates to a radio tower lighting system and, more particularly, to the use of a ground-based light source and fiber optic cabling to provide beacon light on a radio tower.
Beacon lights are required on structures above a certain height in localities where aircraft are present. These requirements are usually covered by federal regulation and require at least one beacon on top of a structure and often a plurality of beacons at designated heights. Particularly affected by this requirement are towers such as may be used by power utilities and radio towers used by communication companies.
Repair or replacement of such tower beacon lights has presented the problem of danger to service personnel in climbing to and from such elevated locations, such dangers being increased during inclement weatherxe2x80x94if not rendering servicing impossible during such conditions. Efforts to alleviate these problems include techniques such as the provision of unitized replacement fixtures at pole ends, or cable and link mechanisms for lowering the damaged fixtures. However, the expense and time associated with these techniques has been found to be overwhelming, considering the number of towers that need to be maintained. Moreover, most federal laws require the lights to be repaired within a limited period of time. Costly finesxe2x80x94accruing on a daily basisxe2x80x94can be assessed against an owner should the light remain dark beyond the time limit defined by law.
Thus, a need remains in the art for a tower light system that can be easily maintained without incurring the expenses associated with utilizing additional equipment to raise and lower the light fixtures or having technicians available to climb the towers as needed.
The need remaining in the prior art is addressed by the present invention, which relates to a radio tower lighting system and, more particularly, to the use of a ground-based light source and fiber optic cabling to provide beacon light on a radio tower.
In accordance with the present invention, a light source such as an LED or laser is located in a ground-level equipment shelter associated with the tower. One or more fiber optic cables are coupled to the light source and installed to run along the tower structure to terminate at the various beacon locations along the sides and top of the tower. At the termination sites, each fiber is coupled to a lens designed to magnify and disburse the light in a 360xc2x0 pattern so that it is clearly visible in all directions. Since all of the active optics are located at ground level, a technician merely needs to replace the LED or laser in the equipment at the shelter upon failure of a light source.
In a preferred embodiment, the various lenses are color-coded, depending upon the particular function associated with each beacon (i.e., xe2x80x9credxe2x80x9d for side lights and beacons, xe2x80x9cclearxe2x80x9d for strobes). Since fiber optic cable is non-metallic, the cable will not carry stray currents or lightning strikes into the shelter.
Other and further embodiments and advantages of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following discussion and by reference to the accompanying drawings.